Very public hides. Do you, don’t you?
I am sure we have all been in this situation. You drive/walk up to a cache location and it is hidden in a very public place with muggles all around, all the time. What do you do? The cache owner is obviously aware of the location and was comfortable placing it there but are you comfortable finding it? You do have a few options, try to use stealth to find it, just walk right up all confident like you belong there and not look suspicious, not care who sees you or if it gets muggled after you leave or decide that it isn’t worth the trouble or attention and walk away.
Here is my take. The owner placed it there with two ideas, one is to see if you are sneaky enough to get in and out undetected or they are not concerned at all and didn’t put any thought in the placement or your difficulty getting it unseen. Usually you can get some idea from the listing, did they explain the area and why they put it there. Is the correct difficulty level selected? Is the listing poorly worded and the hider took almost no pride in it?
I have used at least 3 different methods depending on the cache. If it is in a well known busy area and the owner is proud of getting it in there and asks me to be careful, I will. If it is in a place where I can fake like I belong by getting out my phone, camera, GPS then I will do that. If the cache looks like the owner just wanted to fit one in with no regard for private property (there are some in Riverview placed on signs 10 feet in on someones lawn for example) or if I will be seen then I walk up, get it and leave not concerned about who sees me or I ignore it and move on.
What are you thoughts on caches in busy public places or private property?
I have always viewed them as a challenge to get in and out. Where I find these different are if you are in your own city or are you abroad. Of course being on home soil gives us a more comfortable feeling because you know the area and people in many cases. But when you go abroad to foreign soil your gun ho is typically gun shy.
Having the police come up to me on a public area cache I am not a huge fan of them. With that being said it was a simple, “I’m geocaching, it’s kinda like a scavenger hunt.” and the cop saw the device in my hands and he drove away without any big hassle. I cached in New York city last month and that was insane, aside from Central Park it is *extreme* stealth required. I pretended to bend over and tie my shoes a good hundred times while looking under a fence, etc.
Worst ones, in my opinion, are the hides on or close to playgrounds or playground equipment. There is absolutely no way you can do those stealthily while caching solo without looking like some kind of creep.
A new cacher in the Moncton area just hid two in playgrounds a few weeks ago, I won’t be getting them.
If it is in a public place with people around where I have to use stealth, I will go for it, in fact I will enjoy it. A good example is our Lobster cache where you have to look for it with a lot of people around. The employees there are aware of the cache and may even help you.
I am less likely to go on someone’s front lawn or in a spot where I am alone and fully exposed such as a stop sign in a neighbourhood. In Freddy this weekend we went to a tree on someones front lawn because the description said it would be OK. It turns out it was a multi and I would have to go on their front porch for the final. I left it there
Playgrounds are also caches we avoid especially if I am alone. I recall a number of caches on PEI on the actual playground equipment. I stole a nano off a climbing apparatus on PEI and lied to the CO that a mother made me do it.
playground caches seem to get a lot of people uppity. fine, we all play our own game.
but if there is a crowd of kids (or ANY crowd) around ANY cache, i will not stand around looking like a creep hunting for it. i don’t like the police all that much, and i really don’t need any impromptu visits from them.
i’ll just simply come back when there is no one around.
i have a big problem with graveyard caches.
i don’t think ANYONE should be messing about with the dead.
it’s disrespectful.
so i just walk on by them.
my choice, my game.
again. simple.
I don’t mind graveyard caches that are in the woods, especially at the back of the graveyard. This allows me to stroll through the graveyard and read the tombstones and get a bit of a feel for the history. I find this especially interesting in older graveyards in out of the way places where you see the very old gravestones and get a sense of how tough life must have been in that remote area 150 to 200 years ago.
We are very respectful for the cemeteries and if it wasn’t for geocaching, we wouldn’t be in there.
pa: you are also the type of person who wouldn’t leer at children on a playground.
the problem here isn’t people with common sense 😉
I am with Pa on the graveyard caches, I like them as long as they are placed properly. I also like to wander through reading the names and dates and graveyards are made for people to visit so I am ok with visiting even if I don’t know who they are….lol. They are a great place to make a puzzle or multi with all the numbers on them and many are on hillsides with nice views. I have driven past a few and not stopped because of funerals and people around fresh holes.
As with Pa and Rev, I love graveyard caches, provided they placed in a manner that prevents any disturbance and is respectful; and in 99% of the cases, that is true. I like viewing the history, and looking at the intricate designs of the stones.
Another set of caches I am always leery about are the ones in someone’s yard (front or back). Even if it is a “cacher friendly” house, I absolutely hate them, and will only go to them if I have someone else with me.
ha, the front yard ones do make you a bit jumpy. But I enjoy having them. I’ve had a couple now and had some good chuckles watching people. My neighbours know what is going on and my current one I have stated that I dare you to come and look for it, although it is currently disabled bc it was a UV cache but I’m not a fan of those so I’m going to change it up now that I have some spare time. Grave yards as others have said can show you alot of history and have actually discovered past members of the family that were buried in some. If it wasn’t for caching I wouldn’t have a clue where they are or remembered. Playgrounds fit into many molds, small encompassing ones need to be avoided but if they are attached to a park then it’s different.
I just hid a cache in a park (not a play ground). Half the fun in finding it is to see how stealthy you can be.
totally! stealth it people!
I was in downtown Montreal for a trade show and thought I would get a little caching in. Found out that finding nanos in high muggle areas just isn’t my thing. I don’t enjoy looking creepy while searching for something near a storefront or in the median of a busy road.
I love a good cemetery cache. My other passion is genealogy, so I spend a great deal of time in cemeteries. When I can combine the 2 passions it is that much more fun! I love going to a good puzzle cache in a cemetery and discovering possible relatives there!
As with anything, you have to use common sense and be respectful. You will always get someone who has none of these attributes.